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By Bob Weaver
The Mt. Zion PSD board members continue to regroup the distressed water and sewage district, paying out $37,000 in current and past due bills, leaving only a small amount of cash in the district's bank account.
Board member Shirley Mace at Monday's meeting said, "We're trying to catch up with some of the really past due bills, and pay the current utilities."
The PSD is working toward getting a long overdue emergency rate increase, according to attorney Tom Whittier.
Whitter told the board that efforts to reinstate the services of an auditor had not been successful. The auditor resigned because of lack of payment.
A court hearing is scheduled in Grantsville on February 22 (1:30 p.m.) related to civil actions brought against the district and project engineer Jim Hildreth.
Attorney Whittier says attorney Robert Rodaker will be requesting a dismissal of the civil actions.
The litigants are Ronald Lane, Inc. and Welding, Inc., both claiming bid interference.
Judge David W. Nibert advised the principal parties at an earlier hearing that the public interests must come first, focusing on getting water to an under-served section of Calhoun, referring to the 21-mile $5.2 million dollar extension.
Contracts were let by the Mt. Zion PSD, and the contractors have advised the PSD they have extended their bids through March.
PSD board member Roscoe Gainer said the project is stuck because USDA says they will not fund the project if it is in litigation.
The board heard updates from attorney Whitter regarding the status of an ongoing investigation of the Mt. Zion PSD by the West Virginia Public Service Commission.
The investigation was requested by the Calhoun Commission.
The state is expected to complete their investigation in July.
The board was advised by Dick Ullum that water leaks, several of which have been fixed, continue to plague the system. Ullum said several thousand gallons of lost water has incurred extra costs to be paid to the Town of Grantsville that supplies the system.
Ullum said work is being done daily on a long laundry list of system problems that affect both the water and sewage systems.
The board will be selecting an engineer firm for an update of the sewage system.
The board acknowledged that current minutes and financial reports are being submitted to the Calhoun Commission.
The next PSD board meeting is March 8 at 6 p.m. at the Arnoldsburg Community Building.
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